Baby Among 71 Bodies In Abandoned Lorry

The bodies of 71 people were in a lorry that was found abandoned in Austria this week, according to police.

Investigators have been examining the lorry following its discovery in Austria on Thursday.

Police said several of those found dead inside the vehicle were refugees from Syria.

Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief for the province of Burgenland, said he believes the truck had been parked for at least 24 hours before it was found.

Four people have been arrested in Hungary in connection with the deaths.

Authorities believe a Bulgarian-Hungarian trafficking ring is responsible.

Of those arrested in Hungary, three are Bulgarian and a fourth is of Afghan nationality.

Police said 59 of those who died were men, eight were women and four were children, including one baby girl.

Forensic specialists clad in white protective suits have been seen taking body bags away from the refrigerated customs building in the village of Nickelsdorf.

Austrian newspaper Krone said that early investigations indicate the truck was in Budapest in the early hours of Wednesday and was seen at the border at around 9am.

It was then seen again in Austria at around 5am on Thursday and when it failed to move for some time, witnesses called police.

When officers arrived they found the back door slightly ajar and inside were the partially decomposed remains of the migrants.

"When they checked they found it had no driver and blood was dripping out of the vehicle and there was a smell of dead bodies," Helmut Marban, press officer for Burgenland police, said.

The police chief said it is suspected that those trapped in the trailer suffocated after being unable to get out.

Police suspect those responsible have already fled the country.

It comes as a Romanian man was arrested in Hungary for driving a different van that overturned on the M5 highway, injuring 10 of the 18 migrants inside.

Hungary has been at the frontline of the challenge posed by a river of migrants coming from outside Europe and has responded by building a barrier along its border.

The International Organisation for Migration said on Friday that Hungary was exacerbating the problem of people-smuggling with its plan to restrict the flow of migrants and refugees into the country.